String Cheese Incident Brings New Music To Wakarusa

Musician Keith Moseley admits to being hard pressed to find a greater joy than performing brand-new music for a swaying sea of fans.

Musician Keith Moseley admits to being hard pressed to find a greater joy than performing brand-new music for a swaying sea of fans.

These days, the founding bassist and songwriter for The String Cheese Incident feels fortunate and inspired that his band can pull in large crowds to its concerts without having to lean on radio play for help. Releasing quality music on CD and online and giving 150 percent effort at every gig are two ways The String Cheese Incident has achieved its level of success, he said.

"The String Cheese Incident has always been about the touring model," Moseley said during a recent telephone interview. "We played our first gigs in December 1993, and we were looking at the Grateful Dead and Phish. We thought, let’s go out and take our music to the people. Let’s try to build a following that way.

"Having something on the radio is fine, sure, but we wanted to bring the music to the people," he added. "Many years of hard touring have paid off for us, and we’re able to draw a pretty big crowd. We’re fortunate."

SCI fans and potential followers will hear the band debut new songs at the Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival, which runs through Sunday at Mulberry Mountain Lodging & Events, 23978 Arkansas 23, north of Ozark. The group will play at 11:55 p.m. Friday on the festival’s Revival Stage and again at 8 p.m. Saturday on the festival’s Main Stage.

"We’re excited about them" Moseley said of the songs that comprise The String Cheese Incident’s first studio CD in nine years, "Song in My Head." "We’re going to do things that no one has heard us play live before, plus mix in some things that are favorites for the fans."

As Moseley and his fellow band members created "Song In My Head," producer and former Talking Heads keyboardist-guitarist Jerry Harrison supervised from the studio producer’s chair. The collaboration was an educational, stress-free experience, Moseley said.

"Jerry came into the project not trying to change us too much, but to capture — to distill — the essence of each song," he said. "He changed the key on a couple songs to help us get better vocal performances. It was a great experience with a great, all-around musician who is a wealth of rock and roll information."

Unlike some bands, all SCI members write songs, which gives the group added, "interesting dimensions," Moseley said. This variety of creative vision has helped keep The String Cheese Incident from being pigeonholed by critics, he said.

"You can’t hardly watch only one show or listen to only one of our albums, and grasp fully what this band is all about," Moseley said. "Stylistically, we are all over the map as songwriters, and in the long run, that gives the band longevity."